Although Cherokee has been a spoken language for thousands of years, it was not written down until Sequoyah invented a system in 1819. Today there are newspaper articles and other things written in this language.

John Ross was a French writer who visited the Cherokees in 1621 to learn their language. They said he was the best student they trained. He wrote a book in the Cherokee language called Europa, intended to teach the Cherokee what life was like in Europe.